Just to let you know what's going to happen in April. I'm going to try to review a book for every letter. Too bad I didn't think of it soon enough to have a backlog. Some of them are novels, some are short stories, and a couple are children's books. There will be romance, thrillers, and erotica. Mostly m/m and I hope to remember to label those for you so you can skip it if it isn't your cup of tea.

Sundays will have two posts, my regular post plus my Monday post. My Thursday post will still show up on Thursday, hard to give up the kitties.Links to all the bloggers are here, please stop in and chat with some of us.

There are over 1,400 bloggers joining up for this event. There are 22 categories you can sign up with but with personal, miscellaneous and adult content on the list, who knows what you'll find when you visit.

I was going to link up each letter on every post for you but I already talk a lot ;-) and didn't want the posts to be any longer than they already are. I moved my BLOG ARCHIVE list so you can check them out that way. Each should be obvious, they'll say something like "A is for . . . Alex (sports romance)".

All worldviews-including atheism-require faith. But some belief systems are more reasonable than others! Geisler and Turek make the case that Christianity requires the least faith of all because so much evidence points toward the existence of God and the reliability of Scripture. an engaging, easy-to-follow defense for Christians and skeptics.

It's Christmas! But the king and queen have a problem-their precious daughter has become spoiled. So they decide that this year will be different. Their child will receive only three gifts. Will she share the treasures-or hoard them?

Ages 6-10. 32 pages, hardcover with audio CD

Also,

Think No Evil: Inside the Story of the Amish Schoolhouse Shooting...and Beyond

The objective of the Read to Me Challenge is to read with the kiddos in your life and/or enjoy picture books in general.

Books must be ones written expressly for children ages 9 and under. Board books, early readers, picture books, etc.

Print or eBook format is acceptable.

Anyone can join. You don’t have to be a blogger, and you don’t have to live in the United States. Open worldwide.

You do not have to have an blog to participate.

You can join at anytime. Deadline to join is November 20, 2011. (not 2010 you still have PLENTY of time to sign up!)

All of the books for "Young Readers" also count towards "Read to Me" but not the other way around! There are several levels for Read to Me and I choose to be Board Book and will read 12 books. The ones that don't count towards "Young Reader", plus any read over 12, will be listed from #13....

1. Kekula2. A Bed Case of Stripes3. If You Give a Mouse a Cookie4. Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?5. If a Dog Could Blog6. The Bear Detectives7. Red in the Flower Bed8. Cookie's Week9. The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything10. The Fire Cat11. Dinosaurs Before Dark12. The Knight at Dawn

Investigating and busting dog-fighting rings is what police officer Julio Herendez lives to do. Defending the innocent and vulnerable from monsters makes his day. So when he meets Paine “BB” Addison, Julio finds himself wanting to save the abused young man from the cruel world he’s also been forced to survive.

Paine exists in an environment where the weak and innocent are exploited for entertainment. The men who use him for their perverted pleasure and fight the dogs don’t care about the physical or emotional damage they inflict upon their victims, both animal and human. Paine lives from day to day, doing what he can to heal the wounds suffered by others, but unable to help or heal himself.

When Julio and Paine meet, it triggers a chain of events that rocks both their worlds to the foundations. But can they also bring justice for the silent victims?

My thoughtsT. A. Chase does it again, just with a darker side. The sexual tension carries through the book but it is overshadowed by the story of pain & cruelty. I know it is a fictional story but I've seen enough news programs to see a kernel of truth. I want to rescue a dog. And a child. Maybe more than one. I cried at the helplessness and cringed at the squalor and felt real anger. Ms. Chase does a fabulous job of bringing us into the story and making the characters real. This story may start at a dog fight and involve the underbelly of humanity but it is ultimately a story of love, hope and survival.

There is a bit of a cliffhanger at the end but this is, above all, a romance, so there has to be a happy ever after. Right?

1. If a Dog could Blog - review- while not your normal memoir, the author specifically states that she wanted to share the laughter and this is the result.

2. Until Tuesday - The story of a wounded veteran and his service dog. The trials of life before they came together as well as the ups and downs they dealt with together.

3. The Courage to Start - Classified under "The arts" but I feel it has so much of his own story in it, it counts. The author, John "The Penguin" Bingham, shares how he started running while encouraging us to "Waddle On" no matter how fast or how far we can currently run.

4. One Silent Sleepless Night - review - The author writes about his trip through his memories as well as worry about the future during a pain filled, sleepless night after surgery.

5. Repairing Rainbows - review goes live 8-25 - Lynda writes about losing her mother and siblings in a plane crash and what life was like afterwards and beyond. Wonderful book.

I dare you to pledge you will read only the books in your TBR (To Be Read) stack for as long as you dare

This one will be hard even though I've joined a similar challenge, I've got a book I'm itching to re-read. I'm going to count my review books since they are in my TBR pile and were received in 2010 but I'm not going to count my new non-mainstream ebooks.

*any book a publisher or author gives you with the expectation that you review it, counts for this challenge.

There are five levels and while I have enough books to go for Platinum, I'm going for Bronze b - review at least 12!

The biggest change is that we don't need to list our review books on a "wall of shame" but I wanted to keep track online so I made my own Wall of Shame however I'm not going to embarrass myself any further by telling you when I received the book. ;)

I'm not a snob about my food, or my reading, and don't consider myself a foodie but when my second book of the year has "cookie" in the title, I figured I'd give this one a try. After all, who doesn't love to eat?

Amanda started the Mental Illness Advocacy (MIA) Reading Challenge in December 2010 in an effort to raise awareness, knowledge, and acceptance of mental illness when she was unable to find a current reading challenge to address the stigma faced by those suffering from mental illness.

In spite of mental illnesses being recognized by the scientific community as diseases just like physical ones, many still think those suffering from one are at fault for their own suffering. I hope reading and reviewing books featuring characters struggling to deal with mental illness, whether their own or another person’s, will help remove the stigma faced on a daily basis by those with a mental illness. They already have to struggle with an illness; they shouldn’t have to face a stigma too.

Challenge Levels:Acquainted–4 booksAware–8 booksAdvocate–12 books

I'm going to start at Acquainted and see how I do. I'm trying not to purchase new books but know of three in my library that would fit.

~so much for not buying new books, both of these are new ;-)

1. Until Tuesday: A Wounded Warrior and the Golden Retriever Who Saved Him by Fmr Capt. Luis Carlos Montalvan with Bret Witter

Seventeen years of service. Two tours of duty in Iraq. A highly decorated Captain in the Army. Traumatic brain injury, cracked vertebrae, PTSD.

2. Impossible to Resist by Em Woods

An alternative short story. Due to a encounter with an ex-boyfriend, Max is now afraid of touch (Haptophobia). Just the act of walking down the sidewalk or riding the bus can be a trial. Along comes Miah, a man with enough love and patience to be able to reach him.

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

Grab your current read

Open to a random page

Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!﻿﻿

"Every Christmas Eve from the time she was eight years old, Sarah Collier baked kismet cookies, slept with a handful under her pillow, and dreamed of her one true love......On the Christmas morning when she was fifteen years old, Sarah woke with the sweet taste of fantasy in her mouth. Smiling, she ran the tip of her tongue over her lips."

The First Love Cookie ClubLori Wilde

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. This meme was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists! Each week we will post a new Top Ten list complete with one of our bloggers answers. Everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND post a comment on our post with a link to your Top Ten Tuesday post to share with us and all those who are participating. If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. If you can't come up with ten, don't worry about it---post as many as you can!

1. read review books - I'm seriously behind in this

2. review my review books - it looks like I'm cheating but I've read six of the review books and there is no review posted so I'm making it it's own resolution.

3. no new books - I don't know how long this will last but I have a huge backlog of TBR books in addition to review books

4. read my own books - this means no library or borrowed from a friend books, I've got plenty in the house already, thanks.

6. tour books - tragically failed in my duties as a blog tour stop. I have a pile of books that need to be forwarded. Find out where they are supposed to be.

7. contest winners - I don't know if I ever mailed them their books, how awful is that?

8. books in storage - I hate to do it but I have so many books, I've got to box some of them up and send them to storage. I'm entering them in Library Thing first with "file box #" as a tag so I can find them again.

9, 10 & 11. visit, comments, blog hop - there are several blogs I like to visit and I want to do it more. Meaningful comments should be made. I like to jump to blogs from their blog roll.

12. comment back - you've stopped by and taken the time to talk to me - I should talk to you too.

Monday, January 10, 2011

This fabulous challenge is being hosted by Bookish Ardour at her dedicated challenge blog. The plan? To whittle down that huge TBR pile! No fair buying a new book and adding it to the list!

This one fits right along with my plan to read more of my own without having to give them away after.

There are several levels to the challenge so check out the sign-up post and join us.

I should choose Hoarder but don't want to commit to so many of my own books - there are too many news ones to read ;)

I choose level......

3. Making A Dint – Choose 30 books to read

I don't want the pressure of a higher number but am hoping that I add +11 to this total.

1. The Christmas Clock by Kat Martin2. The First Love Cookie Club by Lori Wilde3. A Constellation of Cats edited by Denise Little4. Emeralds and Espionage by Lynn Gardner5. Zane: The Wild One by Bronwyn Jameson6. The Man the the Golden Gun by Ian Fleming7. One Silent Sleepless Night by Spencer W. Kimball8. Forever Blue by Suzanne Brockmann9. Primal Fear by Caroline Burnes10.

Jun: I think I set myself up to fail this one by choosing too high of a number!

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Do lip balm have addictive additives? Why are we so dependent on them? Do they really add fiberglass? "What's remarkable isn't the persistence of lip-balm conspiracy theories, but how common this line of thinking is." Google it, I got "About 4,150,000 results (0.11 seconds) ". See if you can find the Facebook group.

Q: Do you use lip balm?

Check out the ending and comment about how you feel this may relate the our reading. ;)

Teddy Sparks was eight years old that Christmas, too young to understand all the undercurrents swirling around him in the tiny Michigan town of Dreyerville.

He wasn't able to value that Christmas for the miracle it truly was.

Teddy only knew he wanted to buy the beautiful Victorian clock in the window of Tremont's Antiques as a gift for his grandmother, Lottie Sparks, a woman desperate to find him a home before her rapidly progressing Alzheimer's left him an orphan.

Teddy didn't know that in trying to buy the clock he would meet Sylvia Winters and Joe Dixon, a couple, once in love, desperate to overcome the past. He didn't know he would form a friendship with his neighbors, Floyd and Doris Culver, two people struggling to revive their long-dead marriage.

He didn't know that these people would fill his Christmas with magic and hope; that the love of his friends would change his world, and that he would forever change theirs.

spoiler alert about the ending

My thoughtsI'll admit that I only picked it up because of the cover but the back was why I purchased. I'm a sucker for a feel-good Christmas story and The Christmas Clock did not disappoint. I even cried. Beware, if you're buying because of the author. There is a Q&A in the back and one of the questions starts with "...is a departure from your usual writing".

This is a sweet story, heart wrenching at times, but the characters grow on you and you end up cheering them on as if they're your own neighbors. Ms. Martin has brought us a glimpse of what could happen to a loved one in our own lives but the ending leaves you feeling that all is right with the world.

I thought it would be easier to list my 100+ books if I did it a month at a time ;) then decided on Quarterly reports....then updated/changed again so this is "current" as of May 15....still not sure if I'm happy with it.

January Recap

1. The Christmas Clock by Kat Martin100+, +11 in '11 (reviews), 52 in 52, A to Z (titles), Alphabet Challenge, MMM, Off the Shelves, Romance (reviewed), TBR Dare, Where are you reading?

5. The First Love Cookie Club by Lori Wilde100+, +11 in '11 (reviews), A to Z (titles), Alphabet Challenge, Foodie, MMM, Off the Shelves, Romance (reviewed), TBR Dare, What's in a Name?, Where are you reading?

6. Middle Man by Kate Steele100+, 52 in 52, ebooks

7. I'll Run Away for the Holidays by Stephani Hecht100+, 52 in 52, ebooks

February Recap

8. Ghost from the Past by Carol Lynne100+, 52 in 52, A to Z (titles), Alphabet Challenge, ebooks, Where are you reading?

Friday, January 7, 2011

looks like next year the challenge posts will not start with reading ;)

I like to have a place for everything and everything in it's place. I know, if you've been in our home you won't believe me because I have TOO MUCH STUFF!

When I was first married, there was one bedroom and no garage/storage, then three-bedrooms and a carport/storage. Now there are four-bedrooms and a two-car garage. Not only has the "stuff" expanded to fit the space - it is overflowing!

How fortunate to see Melissa's post at The Betty and Boo Chronicles. Her comments about the frustration of putting "declutter" on your new year's resolution list, again and again, really struck home with me. She is going to do it this year and we get ring-side seats!

She wants to "throw out, recycle, or donate" 2,011 things this year. Even if she doesn't make it, there will be a dent! Soda cans/bottles and last week's leftovers don't count but that homework paper from two years ago counts as one. So does the expired Border's coupon you didn't use. Cool, huh?

I'll join in but I'm not going to list everything like Melissa is. Check out the specific post and see how she's doing.

As I was telling my daughter about this, I called it an odyssey and then said, I didn't really call it that. She said I should have. I guess she's right. This will be a long eventful journey, often filled with hardships. ;)

odyssey progress:so far...

I've been carrying around an extra 52 pieces of paper between my wallet and purse. GONE! I'm just happy I didn't just toss them, I found $25 :grin: The flip side is that if the papers hadn't been there, the money couldn't hide....

All the Christmas decorations, except the tree, are boxed up. Not exactly gone but at least they're "in their place"

I have four books ready to donate

recycled an unused planner calender from 2005 ...yikes!

recycled a telephone directory for a planner size I no longer own

finally, tossed the grocery bag of "office paper" in the recycle bin, paper bag too - going to count as one ;)

three gift bags/boxes are now in their place ;)

recycled the tissue paper, I don't need to count each piece do I?

two more items put away

three more papers recycle that would have been 'kept' before, not because I needed them just not 'tossed'

recycled Ikea catalog.....from 2003!

five more papers recycled

17 more items recycled, filed, trashed or put away :)

Feb. 16

"filing" books and threw away about 20 pieces of paper/sticky notes being used as bookmarks

sigh, threw away a book. Actually I recycled it - manual for a broken Palm

hey - recycle the Palm! There is a e-waste Saturday so the broken Palm & CD player as well as a replaced TV goes, that's another 3 items :D

recycled 3 odd size shipping boxes

recycled 23 copies of a crossword puzzle for a family reunion (filed one)

50 papers recycled. I do the bulletin for our Sunday services and each week required two papers. Why was I keeping these? I know I was, they were paper clipped together!

10 items: 8 papers, a 13 page bound booklet (8.5x11), and 1 large envelope to hold it all. Small potatoes? It was a uncompleted survey from middle school - the kid is 21!

22 papers for BSA summer camp, from 2007

105 miscellaneous receipts, notes, and catalogs.

And the grocery sack they were in.

1 late bill paid

I think I'm liking this challenge, 300+ items tossed, recycled, filed, donated, or paid! I really don't know if it would all have been done this soon after Jan 1st if not for the challenge. Thanks Melissa!

Important note. I went to the grocery store on Saturday and not only did I NOT save the grocery list, I threw away the receipt! Usually these get tossed in my purse then on a table next month then maybe a box before being thrown away. I know it was only three papers but it is an important step.

7-14:sigh, we have a water leak. The plumber is going to be working on the pipes tomorrow so the space had to be cleared. He needs the wall behind a dresser that has stuff all over it! While moving stuff out of the way....

tossed 2 pensa strip of coupons (expired 9-2010)2 batteries10 magazines (didn't even flip through them!)"happy meal" bucket (Halloween! I haven't eaten at MickeyD's in years)deflated balloon (??)3 votive candles that no longer smell like banana nut muffinsa, at one time, very nice hard sided gift bagand....an empty cardboard dip package that was hiding under theangel food cake (still moist) that we served on Memorial Dayput away the pot the cake was hiding under ;-)

Yea, another 24 items!

update: 9-3total so far is 575 itemsI know there are more because I lost a list but I'm so happy with my progress so far.later on 9-3: cleaned out my purse and was able to toss 24 notes, coupons and/or receipts

Dec 15: another 124 notes, receipts, sales circulars, expired coupons! Eleven more papers and 9 magazinestotal so far.....743. Too bad most of these a papers. I'm mean, I'm glad they are gone but I need bigger stuff!

Cleared out craft drawers but there is no way to figure out number of items :-(

Thursday, January 6, 2011

People have been wonderful about sending me books to review but I have fallen more and more behind in my reviews. It's really sad when I read the book within the week of receipt and still don't have a review up!

I do not know what order the books will end up in on the list. I do know that several of the agents would rather I read/review the newest first since the campaign for the older ones is over. sigh

And to top it off....I received an ebook today for review!

Now, to go through my pile and make my list.

2 in the Hat18 Billion18 Minutes (Nov11)40+ and Fabulous (Feb11)

Across the Endless RiverAgony HillThe Alphabet ChallengeAncient Awakening (Feb11)Any Witch Way (Mar11)The Art of Meaningful Living

Bayou MoonBefore I Fall (Nov11)Benny & ShrimpThe Big Ten of GrammerBilly Boy (Sep11)Bodyguards in Bed (Jun11)Boneman's DaughterBridge to Happiness (Jan11)Bring Me Home for Christmas (Nov11)The Brimstone MurdersBroken Evolution (Dec11)Bullet Work (Mar11)BurnBut Then Again I Could Be WrongBy The Time You Read This I'll Be Dead

I ran across an interesting Facebook group. I don't remember what I was originally looking for but when I saw this, I had to share.

Remember the corner bookstore that isn't there anymore? How about the donut shop? The Hardware store? I'm sure we all have favorite small businesses. They may not even be independently owned bookstores!! I remember a great ice cream shop that's gone now. It wasn't super local so we didn't go much, apparently no one else did either :(

I haven't done more than a surface check but really, is it too much to shop at a small business a bit now so it will still be there next time you want to go?

If you don't have a FB account, don't worry, head to the website. It looks easy to do, just pick three small, locally-owned businesses you'd like to stay in business and spend $50. Next month, do it again. Sure, one of the sponsors is American Express Open and they're big business but it's still a sound idea.

Each name is a link to my post about the challenge. That is where you'll find where it is hosted, what the requirements are, the time frame and my progress/list of books. Or a link to wherever my book list is.

I've been meaning to re-read the series for several years and Whitney has given me the perfect reason not to wait....a read-a-long!

Check out her post to learn about dates then sign up and join us! We won't start until February so you've got time to find your kid's copy, check it out at the library or purchase a copy of your very own. Hey, read it with the kids!

The rules are very simple and the goal is to read one book (at least) a week for 52 weeks.

1. The challenge will run from January 1, 2011 through December 31, 2011.2. Our book weeks will begin on Sunday.3. Participants may join at any time.4. All books are acceptable except children books.**5. All forms of books are acceptable including e-books, audio books, etc.6. Re-reads are acceptable as long as they are read after January 1, 2011.7. Books may overlap other challenges.8. Create an entry post linking to this blog.9. Come back and sign up with Mr. Linky in the "I'm participating post" below this post.10. You don't have a blog to participate. Post your weekly book in the comments section.11. Mr. Linky will be added to the bottom of the weekly post for you to link to reviews of your most current reads.

All the mini challenges are optional. Mix it up anyway you like. The goal is to read 52 books. How you get there is up to you.

**in reference to children books. If it is a child whose reading it and involved in the challenge, then that's okay. If an adult is doing read aloud with kids, the book should be geared for the 9 - 12 age group and above and over 100 pages. If adult reading for own enjoyment, then a good rule of thumb to go by "is there some complexity to the story or is it too simple?" If it's too simple, then it doesn't count.

I also belong to a 100+ reading challenge and as I was updating it discovered that I've read 52+ books already! I know I thought this challenge was to read one a week but she really wants us to read 52 books, she doesn't care how we get there. So with that in mind.....

~Challenge Completed~June 3

I keep track of the book read by quarter, start here if you want to see the list

In accordance to the FTC guidelines, I must state that I make no monetary gains from my reviews or endorsements here on Book Dragon's Lair. All books I review are either borrowed, purchased by me, given as a gift, won, or received in exchange for an honest review.